Disappearing Act
by JillyMcBop
Summary: Megan and the gang get caught up in a murder/kidnapping case of an engaged couple. But when start hitting close to home, the team must think quickly to protect their own...
1. Clear as Mud

_[Hello, readers! I haven't written a story in a while, and this is my first try at a BOP fic. Please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome, as I'm trying to keep the characters in character and all of that. I would appreciate your reviews. BOP rocks! (We totally need a season 3). :-)]_

Megan Hunt had just double-checked her apartment windows. You could never take a chance when it was pouring rain and you were going to be out all day. She was just heading to her bedroom to grab her purse when her phone rang. She trotted over to the counter and picked up the phone with a tap of her finger on the smooth screen. Peter's name was on the caller I.D. _It's showtime._

"What's up, Peter?"

"A body was found inside a crashed car full of bullet holes on Marsh road, between First Street and York Av. You'd better wear something that can get wet, 'cause we'll be in the swamp."

"Okay, see you in a few."

A swamp. And of course it had to be raining. Oh well. No heels today. Maybe hip waders instead.

By the time Megan arrived on the scene of the crime, the area around the crashed vehicle was already lined with police cars and a fire truck. As Megan began walking toward the car with her ME's bag, Peter walked up alongside her and began describing the facts of the case. A security officer followed them closely with an umbrella to shield the two investigators from the pouring rain.

"Driver was found inside the car by a wreck crew. They got a call from at about 7:45 this morning from a woman named Glenna Foss, said she'd driven off the road and needed her car towed. The guys said they got here, but Ms. Foss was nowhere to be found. They took a look at the car and found the body in the driver's seat, along with a lot of bullet holes in the car _and _in the driver."

Megan frowned.

"So this Ms. Foss didn't seem concerned about her dead driver? She didn't call 911 or anything?"

"No, the wrecker guys said she just told them about the car. The scene was clear when they arrived."

Megan raised her eyebrows.

"I guess Bud and Sam have their work cut out for them. Let's see what we're got here."

The owner of the wreck crew had already left after being interviewed by Bud and Sam, and the two detectives had gone back to scanning the crime scene for clues. Megan waded out to the car, with Peter close beside her, camera at the ready.

The front of the crashed vehicle was pointing into the swamp, and both front tires were sunk up to their hubcaps in mud and water. The left side of the car was riddled with bullet holes. Both side windows were shattered, along with most of the front windshield. The driver's body was upright in the seat, supported by both the buckled seatbelt and the deflated airbag. Peter got numerous photos of the side of the car, after which a firefighter unlocked and opened the door of the vehicle. Megan then began to examine the body while Peter continued snapping pictures.

"You'd think that the obvious cause of death would be by a gunshot wound…" She murmured, almost to herself as she ran gloved fingers over the victim's neck wounds. "But up close it doesn't seem that way. He's got a bullet wound here…" she indicated the corpse's upper arm, "and here." She put her finger on the victim's forehead. "But they don't appear bad enough to kill him. Looks like most of this blood is from lacerations from shattered glass, but I'll need to get a good full look."

Detective Bud Morris came wading through the mud up to Peter and Megan, glancing at his notepad on which was scribbled some notes from his interview with the wreck crew.

"Got anything on the cause of death?" He asked.

"Not really. Just a few superficial injuries," answered Megan. "No apparent handprints or strangle marks, either."

Bud stooped down and felt around in the victim's pockets for some kind of ID. He came up with nothing. Megan stood up. "I won't be able to see much 'till the autopsy." Bud looked quizzically at her. "So even with all these bullet holes the guy has only a few flesh wounds?" The ME nodded. "Yep. It wasn't the crash OR the shots from the outside that killed him, from what I can tell." She began wading back toward the road, calling back over her shoulder "Autopsy in 2 hours."

Bud walked over to the passenger side of the car. The door was closed. He opened it and began inspecting it for clues. "A wallet would've made things a little easier," he grumbled aloud to himself. The pouring rain didn't help to lift his spirits. And it certainly didn't help in finding clues, but he did his best. He searched all of the compartments he could find, looked under the seats, and checked the trunk. Nothing. No luggage, no pieces of scratch paper with addresses or phone numbers. Not even a map. The floor of the car between the front seats had struck a rock and water was leaking through. Of course, the smashed windows had allowed the rain to make a mess of things too. All that Bud could find for evidence was a water bottle on the floor of the back seat, and a bullet. There were plenty of those. He bagged both objects, and then headed back to where he parked his cruiser. It was no good dusting for fingerprints since the rain had pretty much washed the entire inside of the car.

"Hey Bud," Peter called after him. "Did you notice how most of the bullet holes are toward the back side of the car rather than the driver's side? It's almost like whoever shot at the car was aiming toward the back or something." "Yeah. Or maybe they were just a bad shot." Bud and Peter exchanged a look, and Peter shrugged. "Could be. Well, I've got a museum's worth of photos so I think I'm done. Gotta get these to the office before something bad happens to this camera." Bud nodded, and both men began wading towards the road.

Sam was over by the cruiser putting in a couple bags of evidence. "Whatcha got?" Bud asked. "All I found in the car was a water bottle." Sam held up a bag with a small, blue object in it. "I got Glenna Foss's phone, and a .40 caliber pistol. Could be the murder weapon. Looks like it was tossed from the road. Found it in the grass by the roadside over there." Bud nodded approvingly. "Well that's something at least. That phone oughta give us some leads." Sam nodded. "I looked around for car tracks or footprints, but this rain's done a number on any marks that may have been useful. Whoever did this picked a good day for a clean getaway." "And so did Glenna Foss," Bud commented. "But why would she leave her phone?" Sam wondered. "I mean, it's pretty easy for us to track someone down once we've got their cell phone. She must've known someone would've found it." Bud shrugged. "Yeah. Who knows. Listen, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of this rain. How about we go for coffee and then work on this more?" Sam nodded. "Sounds good to me."

The ME transportation crew had carefully extracted the body from the wrecked car and set it inside the van on a gurney. Often the dead could be more useful than the living in telling the story of both life and death. It would certainly be true as events unfolded in the case of this rainy day murder mystery.


	2. Mystery Caller

_[Thanks for the reviews so far! I'll be honest; I'm definitely not a doctor or detective, and I don't know a whole lot about all the details of how that stuff works. If something in the story doesn't seem quite right, feel free to let me know. I'm still getting into the groove of writing BOP fan fiction, so whatever suggestions you have will be appreciated.]_

In the ME's office, the medical transport crew had brought in the body of the unidentified car crash victim. Megan had already ordered several tests, and Ethan was busy in the lab running tests on saliva, blood and stomach contents. Peter watched her as she examined the victim's body.

"Now that I can look at John Doe properly, it's pretty obvious that his cause of death was asphyxiation, most likely from some type of orally ingested poison. See how his feet are turned inward, and how his back is so rigid? Without a doubt the tox screen will come back positive." Peter leaned forward for a closer look. "Yeah, I see. So do you think he was dead before or after the crash?" Megan shrugged. "That's hard to say. It varies person to person on how long it takes different toxins to enter the bloodstream." Just then, Ethan came running into the room with the lab results.

"So the tox screen came back positive. For strychnine poisoning."

Megan nodded approvingly.

"So we have our cause of death. Thank you, Ethan. Anything else important?"

Ethan shook his head.

"Nope. All other tests came back normal; the lab is still analyzing the stomach contents."

"Good," said Megan. "I don't see anything unusual. Peter, any luck with identifying him?"

Peter shook his head. "Not yet. I got his picture circulating, so it shouldn't take long before we've got something."

Curtis' face suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Ethan, I told you fifteen minutes ago to get me those lab results pronto! Get a move on, I wanna get this case closed before the day's over."

Ethan showed Curtis the papers he was holding.

"I got them right here. I was just a little busy figuring out John Doe's cause of death for Dr. Hunt." "Mmhmm," said Curtis skeptically.

"In case you don't remember, I'm still you're boss. You gotta think about your priorities. Just so you know, a little birdy told me that somebody around here was getting' a raise, and it sure ain't Dr. Hunt's cadaver."

Megan raised her eyebrows.

"And who would this little birdy be?" she inquired.

"Ain't none of your business. All they told me was that it was goin' to somebody that really deserved it and we'll find out at the end of the month. Meanwhile, he looked in Ethan's direction.

"You gotta stick with whatcha started before you move on to somethin' else, ya got me?"

Ethan nodded. Curtis' severe expression softened.

"I'm watchin' your back. You got potential."

Megan smiled as she watched Curtis and Ethan walked down the hall, bantering back and forth in their usual way. _A cause of death _and _somebody was getting a raise… this was progress._

"Hey Peter, can you get a hold of that water bottle that Bud found in the car? It should be tested for strychnine."

Peter nodded and headed toward the morgue door.

"Sure thing. I'll see if there's any progress with John Doe's identity, too."

Bud and Sam had discovered that the car was a rental. They went to the place where it had been rented from, and asked some questions to Bill Savino, the owner of the rental shop.

"Here's the rental form. Eli Forrester. The guy talked a lot, said that he and the woman that was with him had just arrived from Vancouver to visit her parents."

Bud leaned on the counter, his pen poised over his notepad.

"Did he say what his connection to this woman was? Did he mention her name?"

"Yeah, said she was his fiancé. She showed me the ring and everything. He called her Glenna."

Sam held up the phone that she'd found at the crime scene. On the screen was a photo of a man and a woman together.

"Is this what they looked like?"

The man behind the counter leaned forward to get a better look.

"Oh yeah, that's them. Said they would need the car until the end of next week."

Bud took a step back from the counter and looked the man in the eye.

"They won't be bringing the car back, Mr. Savino. Eli Forrester is dead."

Mr. Savino gave an expression of disbelief.

"Really? What a shame! What happened?"

Sam stepped forward.

"We're still working on finding out. The car was found crashed in a swamp, with bullet holes in it. Mr. Savino, did Mr. Forrester mention if he would be going out of town?"

The man shrugged.

"He just said they'd be visiting in the area."

Bud finished writing down a few pieces of information on his notepad.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Savino. We may meet again if we have any more questions."

Bill Savino nodded.

"Sure, if I can be of any further help just let me know."

Back at the police station, Peter talked with Bud and Sam about their findings.

"The car rental guy, Bill Savino, told us that Eli Forrester had come in to rent a car along with Glenna Foss. They were engaged. Said they had just arrived from Vancouver to visit her parents," Sam explained.

"According to the records, Glenna Foss is 22 years old, attending college at Washington State. Her parents are Adrian and Annabelle Foss. I guess we'll be making a house call," said Bud, as he studied the records on the computer screen.

"Oh, before I forget, Megan wanted me to get that water bottle that you found in the car. Eli Forrester's death was caused by strychnine poisoning. She wants the lab to test the water," Peter informed them.

Bud nodded and went off to get the water bottle.

Peter leaned on the desk. "So, so far we've identified the missing woman and the victim. I'm still wondering why Glenna Foss didn't call an ambulance. Why a tow truck after crash? And if she knew that he'd been poisoned, why not poison control?"

Sam shrugged.

"Beats me. Makes you wonder if it was even the real Glenna Foss that called the tow truck. I mean, we don't have that call recorded to match a voice pattern. It might have been the killer that made the call for all we know."

Peter nodded.

"Could very well have been. The motive could've been jealously, since Glenna just got engaged to Eli Forrester. Could've been an old flame that heard that he and his fiancé would be in the area, so he or she went after them."

Just then Bud came back into the room holding the evidence bag containing the water bottle. Peter took the evidence bag from him.

"Thanks. I'll give this to Megan and call you if there's anything new." Bud nodded.

"Sam and I will go break the news to Glenna's parents, and see what else we can find out about John Doe."

Back in Megan's office, Peter gave Megan the water bottle and told her the latest about Glenna Foss.

"They haven't found her yet, but Bud and Sam are going to talk with her parents today."

"Good. What have you found out about Eli Forrester?"

"Records say that he was 23 years old, was adopted, and that both his adopted and biological parents are dead. Lived in Vancouver, Washington, and was attending college at Washington State, same as Glenna. Nothing unusual in his medical records, no criminal record, and not even a speeding ticket."

"What was he going to college for?"

"He was going for a double major in economics and accounting."

"And what about Glenna?"

"She was majoring in interior design and business."

Megan looked pensively at the photo that Peter had brought to her of Eli and Glenna together.

"They look really happy together. From what I've heard it doesn't seem that likely that Glenna did this to him. I'll bet that the reason that Glenna Foss disappeared was _not_ because she was running from justice."

"Yeah. Kidnapping seems likely, but we'll have to confirm it."

Megan sighed.

"I don't know how I would react if I found out that Lacey went missing. Who knows what might be happening to Glenna right now."

"Yeah," said Peter grimly. "We have to hope for the best, but expect the worst."


	3. Clueless

"I can assure you that we're working as quickly as we can to find your daughter, and her fiancés' killer."

Bud and Sam's expressions were sympathetic as they watched Mr. and Mrs. Foss process the news that their daughter was missing, and that their future son-in-law was found dead.

"Thank you, detectives," said Mr. Foss. He sighed shakily and leaned back in his chair.

"We'll try to be as helpful as we can. Eli and Glenna just got here two days ago. They were on spring break from college. They'd been engaged for just two weeks. They were staying here… we have an apartment above the garage. Eli believed in, well, waiting, so he and Glenna took separate rooms. They had their own space… I just thought that they might've been sleeping in this morning, or maybe they'd gone out…" Mr. Foss paused and rested his head in his hands. He sighed again, and continued.

"Glenna had an old friend that she hasn't seen since high school. He heard that they would be in the area, and he wanted to meet up with her and Eli at a local diner. Frederick Haskell is the guy's name. So he called her up and asked if 6:00 would work to go out to eat. Glenna told me that she and Eli were going out, and they left at 5:45 last night. That was the last time I saw them."

"Mr. Foss, what was the name of the restaurant?" Sam asked gently.

"LaMonta's. It was Glenna's favorite hangout spot in junior high."

"Mr. Foss, did Glenna have any old flames, or rivals, anyone that might have had something against her? Did anyone ever threaten her in any way, or make unwanted advances?" Bud inquired.

"No… not that I can think of."

"What about Frederick?"

Mrs. Foss pulled herself together and was finally able to speak.

"Frederick is a good boy. He would never do anything like this to Glenna. He was just a good friend. He and Glenna never dated. They practically grew up together. He was happy for her when he found out that she got engaged to Eli."

"Mr. Foss, did Glenna mention anything to you about going someplace after dinner with Frederick?"

"No."

"Can I ask you to get me Frederick's contact information? I know that this is a very difficult time for you, but the more information we have, the quicker we can find your daughter."

Mr. Foss nodded numbly, and jotted down the phone number and address of his daughter's friend on the detective's notepad. Bud then got up from his chair, and Sam did the same.

"Well, thank you, Mrs. and Mrs. Foss. We will do our best to find your daughter quickly, and bring justice to Eli Forrester's killer."

The Fosses nodded appreciatively, still in shock from the news that they had just heard.

"Please, if there's anything else we can do, and if you hear anything, please tell us. I can't imagine where Glenna might be… why she hasn't called us or anything. Please let my baby girl be okay." Mrs. Foss broke down in tears of distress. Bud and Sam looked at each other, and after bidding Mr. Foss a quiet goodbye, they headed for the door.

Sam and Bud discussed their latest findings as they left the Foss' house.

"Frederick Haskell. So far he's our next best prospect since he's the last person we know of to see Glenna and Eli alive. He could have jealousy as a motive. He could've put strychnine in Eli's drink at the restaurant, and followed them after they left," Sam suggested.

"In that case we might be able to match his prints to the gun. Maybe he tried to get rid of it in case he was found out," said Bud.

"But why would he make Glenna call a tow truck?"

"If it really was Glenna Foss."

Sam paused for a minute.

"You mean you think it was the killer or his accomplice that made the call?" she asked. Bud nodded.

"Yeah, why not? Then they run off with Glenna, and the tow truck arrives after they've cleared the site." Sam sighed.

"I still don't get why she- whoever she was, would call in the first place. I mean, bullet holes, throwing the gun out the window… not exactly a smart way to cover up. The killer could have just made it look like car wreck." Bud shrugged.

"Yeah, they could've done that. At least we have one suspect to grill. That's better than nothing."

Megan pulled the sheet over Eli Forrester's head and finished putting away her tools for the night. She was tired and ready to go home. Mentally she was still working on piecing together the few pieces of the puzzle that she had. _What was the motive? Where was the killer now? What happened to Glenna? Why the phone call to the tow truck guys? Were they somehow involved? Did Eli drink the strychnine at the diner?_

Bud and Sam had talked with Frederick earlier that day, and he hadn't given them much useful, new information. Glenna and Eli had met him there as planned, they had a meal, visited for about an hour and a half, and then they parted ways. That's what he said, anyhow. Megan sighed wearily. _Somebody must be lying, but who is it? There's got to be more than one person involved in keeping this covered up, _she thought to herself as she wearily left the morgue and headed for her office to collect her coat and purse.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Kate coming from the direction of her office.

"Hey, Megan. I just wanted to check on the status of the Eli Forrester case. Ethan told said the cause of death was strychnine poisoning." Megan nodded.

"Yeah. Whoever pulled this off really knew what they were doing. Bud and Sam talked with Glenna's parents, and they didn't seem to have a clue. In their eyes this just came out of the blue. They also talked with the guy that Glenna and Eli met with the day they died. They can't pinpoint anything on him, even though he was the last person we know of to see Eli and Glenna alive. Together, anyway. There's not much to go on right now."

Kate nodded sympathetically.

"I'm sure you'll find something. You always do. Anyways, thanks for the update." Megan paused for a moment. "Curtis mentioned that somebody would be getting a raise. He said a little bird told him…" she looked at Kate curiously, as though to ask her if she was that 'little bird'. Kate shook her head.

"That's news to me. Curtis had a meeting with the health commissioner; he must have heard it from her."

"Straight from the horses' mouth, eh? Sounds promising."

Kate smiled and shrugged.

"Mmhmm. Well, good luck on your case. Hope it clears up for you soon." Megan nodded.

"So do I."

_[Coming up: Lacey helps make a breakthrough in the case which leads the team into a band of criminals with complicated relationships… stay tuned! I will try to update every Tuesday.]_

_Thank you Delaney, starie78, helly318, anon and Lindsay for your comments so far. :)_


	4. Lacey Drew

_What am I missing? _Megan wondered to herself. She was on her way home from the ME's office, and Eli Forrester's case weighed heavily on her mind. She hadn't come up with anything useful from Eli Forrester's body. The cops had discovered nothing that contradicted what they learned from their interviews with the various parties involved. Sometimes Megan wished she were a cop. Oh well. _I've got Peter at my command, and that's close enough. _That thought made her smile. _I guess he does put up with a lot from me._

Megan fumbled with her apartment key on her way up the stairs as her hands began to go numb. It always seemed to happen at the most inopportune times, especially when she was under stress of any kind. Sighing, she picked up the keys and continued up to her apartment. Lacey would probably be on the couch, with her computer, chatting to friends over Skype, or checking her Social Crewz page. Megan sometimes wished that she was Lacey's age again. No bills. No responsibilities. Nobody's life in your hands. Ignorance was bliss back then. But not anymore.

Megan shut the apartment door behind her and set her purse on the floor just inside. She grimaced and shook her hands, trying to rid herself of the all-too-familiar prickly sensation as the feeling returned. Finally they started to normalize. She sighed and picked up her purse. She glanced across the room and saw Lacey parked in a chair in the living room, with her lap-top balanced on the arm of the chair, fingers tapping busily on the keyboard.

"Hey, Lace."

"Hi Mom."

"How was your day with Ruby?"

"Fine. How was yours?" Megan was usually caught slightly off-guard when her daughter asked her how her day went. It just… didn't happen all that often.

"Well, thanks for asking. It was busy, long and aggravating."

"Who did you clash with this time?" Megan smirked and chuckled humorlessly.

"Yeah, you won't believe it, but this time it was the guy on my table that was irritating." Lacey suddenly seemed interested.

"How was he irritating?" The ME took off her shoes and flopped down in the couch.

"Well, this guy was found dead in his car, with gunshot wounds but nothing bad enough to kill him. Later, we found out that he died from strychnine poisoning. I did the autopsy, but I couldn't find anything useful that might help the cops track down the killer."

"Couldn't he have committed suicide?" Megan shook her head.

"Good thinking, Lace, but they ruled that out based on his character and the fact that he was probably with his girlfriend at the time. They'd just gotten engaged. From what we know about Eli Forrester he just wasn't in that frame of mind."

"Maybe the girlfriend did it." Lacey suggested. Megan gave an amused laugh.

"You're going all detective on me, aren't you! What makes you so interested in my cases all of a sudden?" Lacey shrugged.

"Maybe it's all those Nancy Drews. So what about the girlfriend? Didn't the police talk to her yet?"

"Well, they would have, but she's disappeared. We have good reason to believe that she was kidnapped, maybe by the same person that killed her fiancé."

"What's her name? I'll look her up." Megan shrugged.

"Okay, whatever, detective Fleming. Her name's Glenna Foss." Lacey did a quick search on Social Crewz. Sure enough, a user page with that name and a profile picture that Megan recognized appeared on the screen.

"Do you think that's her?" asked Lacey.

"Yeah, that's her," replied Megan. Lacey clicked on the photos section of her profile and began scrolling through Glenna Foss's profile pictures.

"These were uploaded from a mobile phone yesterday," Lacey commented. Megan took a closer look at one of the pictures. It was a self-portrait of Glenna and Eli on the airplane. They were both making goofy expressions and holding up their hands to display their engagement rings. The photo caption read "me an Eli goin 2 Philly".

"This picture wasn't on Glenna's phone," muttered Megan.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they found Glenna's phone at the crime scene. I saw all of the photos, and this wasn't one of them. I wonder if it's because of that guy." There was a man seated behind Glenna and Eli, and his face was clearly visible in the photo. There was a slight look of surprise in his eyes. To Megan he looked kind of scared.

"Why would Glenna have deleted this picture from her phone? If she didn't, then who did, and why?" Megan wondered out loud. "And who is that guy?"

"Maybe he's the killer, and he's trying to cover his trail," said Lacey, her eyes shining with excitement. Megan raised her eyebrows.

"Could be. I should tell Bud and Sam; they might be able to track down the guy in the picture. He could very well be the killer."

Lacey smiled proudly. This wasn't the first time she had helped her mother with one of her cases. She had gotten in trouble at school for looking at photos of the body of Nikki Parkson. Even though Megan had taken away her phone for the week, and she had gotten a scolding from the principle _and_ her parents, she still thought it was cool that she'd been able to help track down the murderer of a celebrity that she was a big fan of. And more than ever before, Lacey wanted to connect with her mother. Maybe it was because her friend Ruby's mom had died two years ago, and when she'd been at her house that day she showed her some photos of her. She looked a little bit like Megan. Lacey had had a tinge of guilt for the times when she'd treated her mother like she was the only problem in her life. Seeing that photo also made her feel lucky that, at least, she still had a mother. She wasn't perfect, that's for sure, but she was still her mom. Even though she had been pretty much estranged from her for a little over five years, it still didn't change that. She had a deep-seated sense of satisfaction when she was able to help Megan in any small way with her cases. It sort of made her feel like she was the assistant to someone famous. _I sort of am, I guess._

"I'll call Bud first thing tomorrow morning," said Megan with a tired sigh. "Lacey, I don't know how I would find stalkers through social networking without you." Megan and Lacey shared a smile.

"Just remember, no pretending to be me, ever, ever again." Lacey shook her head.

"Honestly, I won't. But you have to admit… Aiden was kind of a good find, especially for you." Megan laughed.

"Mmhmm. Well, Lace, I think I'm going to bed early. Tomorrow you can tell me more about your visit with Ruby, okay?" Lacey slumped a little uncomfortably in her chair. _What did Mom know about it? Oh well, just keep playing cool._

"Yeah, sure. And I'll keep checking Glenna's page to see if anything else changes." Megan got up from the couch and headed toward her bedroom door.

"Okay, detective. Just keep me in the loop, okay?"

"Yep. G'night."

Megan shuffled to her bedroom. Her body was tired, but her mind was still churning with thought about her current case. As usual. _At least now there's something new. Maybe it'll be as simple as this guy being the killer. That would be nice for a change. Probably won't be that easy, though. It never is. _

[_Decided to put this out a little bit earlier than normal in honor of Body of Proof's being renewed for season 3. Or should I say BOP being RENEWED for SEASON 3! Now I can rest in peace. So to speak. :)_

_Thank you, meterlovealltheway and anon for your reviews. I really appreciate the feedback._]


	5. Social Insecurity

It was 8:05 A.M, and Bud Morris had just pulled out of his driveway on his way to work. The detective's phone rang and he picked it up, answering it with his usual "Morris."

"Hey Bud, it's Megan. So last night Lacey and I were looking on the social networking site Social Crewz. We found Glenna's page, and there were some photos of her and Eli on the plane that were uploaded from her cell phone. Funny thing is, they aren't on the phone anymore." Bud raised his eyebrows.

"That _is_ interesting."

"But that's not all. There's a guy sitting behind them on the plane. He looks kind of skittish. Makes me wonder if he followed her here."

"Uh-huh. Could be. I'll check it out when I get to the station."

Megan exited the elevator and strolled down the hall to her office, distributing affable morning greetings to the familiar faces that she passed. Just as she was setting her purse down on her desk, Ethan walked in, iPad in hand.

"Morning, Dr. Hunt. So I was looking at that guy in the picture on Glenna's Social Crewz page, y'know, and the weird thing is, I've seen him." Megan raised her eyebrows.

"Well, news travels fast. Hang on; did you say you've actually seen him? Like, around here, recently?" Ethan nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, just yesterday. He was sitting at the bus stop on Parkway, by the library."

"Did you tell Bud, or Sam, or Peter?"

"Yeah, I talked to Peter, and he talked to Sam, and she talked to Bud."

"So _that's_ how that works," Megan muttered so herself.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing. So what did they say?"

"Peter's going to try and find the flight number and find out who was sitting behind Glenna and Eli." As if on cue, Peter came walking quickly into the office, glancing down at a piece of paper that he held in his hand.

"Morning, Megan." Megan looked up and smiled.

"Hey Peter. Did you get the name of the guy in the photo?" Peter nodded.

"I did. Sam ran a background check, and apparently he has some misdemeanors on his record with the Philly PD from about fourteen years ago. He was apprehended twice for DUI, and fined several times for vandalizing both private and public property. He was also discovered helping a gang in distributing illegal drugs. Sam's out with some of the guys from the police station looking for him. Bud was wondering if you wanted to go with him to talk to Glenna's parents, maybe see if they know the guy." Megan raised her eyebrows.

"Why me? Why couldn't you go?" Peter shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe he needs a… gentle, female presence?" Megan smiled.

"I thought he knew me well enough by now. Where is Bud, anyhow?"

"Last I saw him he was on the phone, talking with Jeannie, I think."

"Hmm… I hope everything's okay," said Megan, with a tinge of concern. Peter nodded.

"Yeah, me too."

Ethan had been standing quietly to one side of the room, tapping and scrolling on his iPad.

"Hey Peter… this is weird. You know the photo with that guy, from Glenna's Social Crewz page? Well, it's gone now." Peter frowned and walked over to look at Ethan's computer screen.

"Huh… somebody must've gotten ahold of her account and is in there messing around."

"Why couldn't Glenna have done it? Has anybody tried contacting her through her account? I mean, she could just be hiding somewhere…" Just then, Megan's cell phone rang. She picked it up.

"Megan Hunt."

"Hey Megan, Bud Morris here. Do you want to come with me to talk with Glenna's parents? I think they'd appreciate it if a woman came along. And they'd probably like to meet you since you're actively involved in their son-in-law _and_ daughter's case." Megan nodded and reached for her purse off her desk.

"Sure, I'll come. Oh, by the way, Bud, I hope you saved a copy of that picture from Glenna Foss's Social Crewz account. It's gone now. Somebody, maybe Glenna, I don't know, just deleted it." There was a second of silence from Bud's side of the conversation.

"…Okay, that's weird. Is Peter there? … Okay, good. Could you ask him to keep an eye on her page? We should really get going and talk with Mr. and Mrs. Foss. Thanks. See you in a minute." As soon as Megan hung up with Bud, her phone rang again. She saw it was Lacey, and picked it up quickly.

"Hey Lace, what's up?"

"Mom, you know that picture on Glenna's Social Crewz page with that guy in the airplane? It's gone! And it's weird, because I added Glenna to my friends list and she accepted. She must be okay if she's…"

Megan interrupted her daughter with a horrified exclamation of "You WHAT?"

_How could she be so stupid? _At that moment, all ofMegan's protective instincts kicked into high gear.

"Listen, Lace, don't use your computer for a while, okay? Read a book, watch a movie, go to a friend's house, or something…"

_What is she so concerned about? She should be proud of me for helping her with her case. Why does she freak out every time I make my own decisions? I'm not stupid. Why can't she just let me do something without getting all bossy?_

"But Mom, it's Glenna Foss! She _missing_ and you're trying to find her, _remember?_ I'm trying to help you." Lacey sounded annoyed, and slightly disappointed. Megan sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, Lace. Sorry I overreacted. Maybe there isn't some forty-year-old rapist out there trying to find girls through the internet using a missing woman's social networking account." Lacey paused. Maybe her Mom had a point.

"Oh… you mean, somebody might have hacked Glenna's account?"

"Yeah, exactly. Just, stay off the computer. And make sure you're with somebody _responsible_ at all times, you got that? I don't want you in danger. I don't want to scare you, but it's easy to track people over the internet…" Megan paused for a second. _Of course. _

"Lacey, you're awesome, you know that?" Lacey smiled rather smugly to herself. But before she could reply, her mother's voice cut in with "But you still have to stay off the computer. _That's an order_. Love you." Lacey rolled her eyes.

"Love you _too_," was her grumpy reply.

Megan looked up at Peter and Ethan and gave an agitated sigh.

"So Lacey just _friended_ Glenna Foss on Social Crewz. And she accepted." Ethan's mouth dropped open. Peter looked grave.

"So," he said thoughtfully, "Glenna could be out there somewhere, hiding."

"It could be, or maybe somebody else is using her account. Why would she delete pictures of her and her fiancé? She, or they, took them all off of her page." Just then Bud came into Megan's office with an impatient expression on his face.

"I was waiting for you out there, what's taking so…" he stopped when he saw Ethan, Megan and Peter's solemn expressions.

"Long. What happened?" Peter told Bud about everything that they had just discovered.

"So, now we just have to track the I.P. address of whoever is on Glenna's account. We can find their locations, and we'll either find Glenna, or the kidnapper…" The detective's train of thought was interrupted by his cell phone going off.

"Morris. Oh, hey Sam. You got him? Great. I'll be right down. No, I haven't talked with them yet… hold on." Bud glanced up at Peter.

"Peter, could you go with Megan to talk with Glenna's parents? I really have to get down to the station to interrogate Eric Simpson. They've got him and they're bringing him in to the station." Peter nodded.

"Sure." Bud looked relieved.

"Peter's going to go with Megan to talk with the Fosses. And guess what? Somebody is using Glenna's social network account… huh. Whatever. I'll get somebody tracking the location. Yep." Bud hung up and looked up at Megan, Peter and Ethan.

"Well, Sam said it could've been Eric Simpson tampering with Glenna's account. Said he didn't have a cell phone on him, and he was nowhere near a computer or mobile device." Megan raised her eyebrows.

"Well, detective, it looks like you have your work cut out for you." Bud smiled and turned to the door.

"Just the way I like it."

_[Thanks for the reviews, meterlovealltheway and dillyydallyy._ _Very much appreciated. I'll try to get Kate more involved in the plot, I promise!]_


	6. Private Property

Megan and Peter departed for the Foss's home. Peter was happy to go with her. He never minded spending extra time with Megan. He was pretty sure that she felt the same way about him, too. They had been working together for over three years, and had become close friends. Peter used to think that maybe they were more than friends. But that didn't seem likely at this point. Megan was very much her own woman. He had seen her flirt with several men during the time that he had known her, and thought that maybe she just wasn't interested in him. Or maybe it just wasn't professional to date your co-worker. But Megan was a rule-breaker.

_I might be able to steal her, at least for a little while. Someday. _

Eric Simpson was a man of average height, with light-brown hair and a handsome face. He looked very unsure of himself as he sat in the interrogation room, waiting for the barrage of questions from the stern-looking detectives. Sam sat down across from him, and slid a photo across the table.

"Mr. Simpson, we found this photo on Glenna Foss's Facebook page. We can see that you took the same plane that she and Eli did, from Washington to Philly. Can you explain why you were following her?"

Eric looked down at the photo with a grieved expression on his face.

"I can't believe Eli's dead." He sighed.

"Well, Glenna and I were friends in high school. We didn't date or anything… we were just… friends. I was going through a rough patch, hanging with the wrong crowd, doing the wrong stuff…"

"We can see that from your criminal record. You've got some misdemeanors; petty theft, vandalism of private and public property, and DUI, to name a few," Bud interjected.

Eric nodded.

"Yeah, but I only did that back then. I've got nothing on my record now, you checked that, right? Anyway, I haven't seen Glenna since we graduated. That was three years ago. We went our separate ways, but I found out last week that she moved to Vancouver, same as me. I found out on her social networking page that she would be coming here to visit her folks."

Bud frowned thoughtfully.

"So, what did Mr. and Mrs. Foss think of you? Did they approve of their daughter having a friend like you, what with you doing drugs and 'hanging with a bad crowd'?"

Eric lowered his eyes.

"Not really. I mean, they didn't like my dreads, my music, my lifestyle… but they never told me to stay away."

"Mhmm," said Sam, jotting down some notes. "So, what about Eli? Were you jealous? Did you follow Glenna all this way to get rid of Eli?"

Eric clenched his fist and shook his head vehemently.

"No! I would never do that. I just wanted to surprise her, that's all. I would never kill him. I want Glenna to be happy, with whoever she wants."

Bud and Sam exchanged a look.

"So," Sam continued, "You got off the plane, and then what? Where did you go?"

"I've got some friends here. I mean, I lived here for ten years, what do you expect? I called them ahead of time and said that I wanted to see them, too. A couple of my friends, Brad and Jessie Lumic, live right near the airport, so they picked me up. I'm staying with them now. They had to go out of town yesterday. I spent a good part of the day just driving around, talking to some guys that I haven't seen in a while, you know, just catching up. Then last night I went to LaMonta's. It was our favorite hang-out spot in high school."

"Mr. Simpson, did you speak with Glenna and Eli at LaMonta's?" asked Bud. Eric shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"No, I did not."

"And why is that?" asked Sam, eyes narrowed.

"I… just didn't have the nerve. Ask anybody that was there that night, they'd tell you that I didn't say a word." Eric paused, and looked at the table in front of him.

"I guess maybe it's because they were already visiting with somebody. Another guy I knew from high school… we didn't really get along. I mean, that was years ago… it was just stupid teen stuff, but it would've been awkward, y'know what I mean, y'know, to just walk in like that."

"What do you mean by 'didn't really get along'? Did you fight with him once upon a time? Was there money involved, or girls, or what?" Bud inquired. Eric squirmed a little.

"Well… it wasn't really anything. I didn't know him really well… he just told me to stay away from him. I think it was just a stage, though… I mean, we were both fifteen, trying to figure out who we were." Bud shrugged.

"Okay, I'll buy it. So what do you know about Frederick?"

"Not much. Look, I've told you everything I can. Can I go now?" Sam and Bud exchanged a look that meant _we've got a winner here_.

"Yeah, you can go. But if anything turns up that contradicts your story, then we'll be seeing you again real soon," said Sam, getting up from her chair. Eric Simpson was escorted away by an officer, and Bud stood by the doorway to the interrogation room, looking after him pensively.

"Y'know Sam, I think he's telling the truth." Sam raised her eyebrows.

"Really? He lied about staying with friends. He's checked into a hotel just downtown."

"I wonder if there's something bigger going on. I don't have proof for this, but here's a theory. What if he followed Glenna because he knew there was some kind of danger, and he was trying to warn her?"

Sam frowned.

"If that was the case, then why would he chicken out at the diner and not tell her there and then?"

Bud looked thoughtful for a second.

"Maybe the danger was there. He did seem kinda edgy when we mentioned Frederick. What if _he's_ hiding something?"

Sam shrugged.

"Well, Eric didn't seem too keen on telling us much. From what we've heard so far he's most likely the one to blame for Eli's murder. He could've easily followed them from the restaurant and shot the car. He could be keeping Glenna in his hotel room for all we know."

Bud sighed tiredly.

"Yeah, maybe. I still think we should talk to Frederick Haskell again, and get his side of the 'didn't really get along' story. Something's not right there."

Peter and Megan's interview with Mr. and Mrs. Foss was quite informative. When they were questioned about Eric Simpson, they expressed their displeasure at their daughter's interaction with him during her high school days.

"It's funny you should ask, though," said Mrs. Foss, "Eric just called the day before yesterday. Said he wanted to come and visit us sometime soon. He said he knew that Glenna would be in the area with Eli, and he wanted to see her again, and meet Eli for the first time, to congratulate them both. I was surprised that he would call. He said that he had changed a lot since high school, and he wanted to apologize for his disrespectful behavior toward us back then."

Megan listened earnestly, and Peter documented the conversation.

"Mr. Foss, did you ever argue with Eric?" Glenna's father shook his head.

"No, never. Just let him know that I didn't want his shenanigans around my daughter. He didn't like how I talked to him… but he never got mad, per se."

Half an hour later, while Megan and Peter drove back to the ME's office, they discussed their interview.

"Seems to me that Eric could've been buttering them up so they wouldn't suspect him of murder," Peter commented.

"I don't know… I don't think that Eric is guilty." Peter looked at Megan incredulously.

"How do you figure? He followed them on the plane. He knew where they would be. He probably saw them in the restaurant, followed them, and shot them." Megan shook her head, frowning.

"I don't know… something tells me it's not as simple as all that. Maybe Bud and Sam will have found out something from Eric Simpson."

Back at the station, the foursome discussed their latest findings.

"So," Bud concluded, "It seems that so far, Eric Simpson is our biggest suspect. But there's not enough evidence to tie him to the murder. There aren't any fingerprints on the gun, no car, nothing. And that means that we don't have enough evidence to search his hotel room, either." At that moment one of the detectives that was working on Glenna's case came up to Bud with a paper in his hand.

"We tracked the I.P. address of the person who cracked Glenna Foss's social networking account. It might not be exact, but the general vicinity is somewhere on Rogan Road in West Philly." Bud nodded his thanks, and took the paper.

"Good… looks like we've finally got something." He turned to Megan and Peter.

"Gotta run. See you later. Coming, Sam?" Sam smiled grimly and nodded.

"Of course."

[_Thank you, anon and meterlovealltheway for the reviews. I'll try to incorporate your ideas into the story a little later on. Thanks for reading.] _


	7. Head to Head

"Ethan. What are you doin'?"

Curtis stood, hands on hips, watching Ethan in the lab. The young doctor's eyes were closed, and his lips were moving. On closer inspection, Curtis saw that he was wearing his earbuds. Quietly, Curtis sneaked up behind Ethan and whipped his earbuds off. Ethan whirled around with an exclamation of dismay.

"It was just getting to the best part!"

"The best part is when you give me the lab results and I _don't_ start paying you by the job rather than the hour."

Ethan's face was the picture of injured dignity.

"You just don't understand! He was just about to tell them that the guy had Eosinophilia-Myalgia syndrome and not scleroderma…"

Curtis looked suspiciously at Ethan for a second, and then shrugged.

"All right, whatever floats your long, skinny boat. So did you got the results from the test from that water that Dr. Hunt ordered? _Yesterday? _She just asked me about it. "

Ethan cleared his throat.

"Oh yeah, I was just about to tell her. It's just water. Plain old water. No strange chemicals, contaminants, colors, or creatures."

"That's a lotta c-words right there. Here's another one for you: Concentrate."

Ethan looked puzzled.

"Concentrate?"

"Uh-huh. We just got another three cases on our hands that need to be done with by next Monday and I want you to work on all of them pronto."

"You know that pronto actually means soon, right?"

"Well ain't you da funny man this mornin'. As _soon_ as you find out what the word for "right away" is in Spanish, let me know and I'll start usin' it."

"You'll use it _pronto_, right?"

Curtis glared at Ethan and headed for the door. Just before he went out he called back "I'll tell Dr. Hunt the results of that test. Don't want to let that keep you from your syndromes."

Ethan shrugged and put his earbuds back on before going back to his lab duties.

"Was it something I said?"

Peter and Megan decided to go out to lunch together. Peter felt that something was bothering his friend, and he hoped that she would feel comfortable opening up to him. They both ordered their lunches and sat down at a table near the window of the café. Megan's phone rang, and after seeing the name on the caller I.D. she gave an irritated sigh.

"It's my mother," she said, rolling her eyes. "She's been calling me non-stop for the last three days, wondering what I'm doing for mother's day." Peter rested his elbows on the table.

"Well, what _are _you doing?" Megan shrugged.

"Probably what I usually do… take Mom to her favorite restaurant, listen to her complain about how I don't talk to her anymore, and how she wants to have a heart-to-heart more often… it just annoys me. Oh sure, I wouldn't mind having a heart-to-heart with my mother, but I don't think that's possible. All she does it tell me all the things that she "sees" in my life that could be… improved, or changed. It's like all she wants to do is talk about me, when for once I just wish that she would just…" Here, Megan stopped talking and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Y'know, Peter, I really don't know what I want from her. Maybe I just want her to stop acting like she's in control of everything in my life."

Peter didn't know exactly how to respond. He himself had a pretty good relationship with his adoptive mother, so he couldn't really relate to Megan's situation. But he tried his best to give some advice from an outsider's perspective.

"Well, I think, even though it might not look that way to you, she has your best interests at heart. Wait a second now, hear me out. I don't know Joan all that well, but I think that really cares for you, Megan. And I think you know that too. But think about Lacey. There's probably a lot of times when you wish that she would do something differently or whatever, but she just doesn't see eye-to-eye with you. You know what that's like." Megan rolled her eyes again.

"I sure do. And it's not just with my Mom, either. Seems to be a recurring theme in my life; butting heads with people."

Peter tried to disguise a chuckle by coughing into his hand. Megan reached across the table and poked him hard in the shoulder.

"You are such a bad actor. You're supposed to sympathize with me." Peter shrugged innocently, and Megan laughed and leaned back in her chair.

Just then their lunches arrived. Peter had ordered a turkey and cheddar Panini, and Megan had ordered a garden vegetable wrap. Megan was just about to take her first bite when she thought of something.

"I haven't seen Danni in a while." Peter finished chewing his first bite, swallowed, and lookup up.

"She's visiting her mother. She'll be gone through mother's day."

"Oh, okay." Peter looked slightly suspicious.

"Why do you ask?" Megan shrugged.

"No real reason, just curious."

Peter sighed and set his sandwich down.

"While Danni's been away, I've been thinking. About us." Megan's eyed widened. _Us?_

"Yeah… I don't know how to… oh, forget it. It's not your problem."

"No, no, go on, I've bored you over and again with my problems with my mother. I'm all ears." Peter sighed.

"Well… Ethan's jealous. About us. And I want him to just stay away, but I'm not exactly sure how to tell him. You probably know him better than I do. I want to tell him to back off without making him totally hate me." Megan was slightly confused. In a curious way.

"By "us"… you mean you and Danni?"

Peter flushed slightly.

"Um, yeah."

Megan kicked herself inwardly.

_What was I thinking? Are you kidding me, Megan? _

For a split second Megan had imagined a different world; a world where neither Danni, nor Aiden (or her latest "find", as Lacey put it) didn't exist. Sometimes she wondered if Peter went there too.

_Why does this have to be so complicated?_

Meanwhile, during that split second of time, Peter was thinking along the same lines. Sometimes he felt like he really didn't know what he wanted. But then he came back to reality.

_I got this. How does she mess with my head this way?_

"Well… I think that Ethan has lots of lessons to learn. Maybe you should just tell him to back off… not with those exact words, of course, but something close to that. But nicely."

Peter nodded.

"Yeah… it's the "nicely" part that I haven't figured out.

This time it was Megan's turn to laugh.

"Come on, you're just a big teddy bear. Just tell him to call Karen Archer and you'll have him off your back. Oh, that reminds me. Curtis said that the results from the water in the water bottle from Eli Forrester's car came back negative for anything unusual. It was just water."

Peter raised his eyebrows.

"Huh. That makes the diner a likely place for him to have picked up the poison, then." Megan nodded, and took a bite of her wrap. Peter took a worried look at his water cup.

"I hope we're able to find the killer sooner than later." Just then Peter's cell rang.

"Hello, this is Peter…. Uh-huh…. Okay… What? Okay, we'll be right down." Peter put his phone in his pocket and pushed out his chair.

"That was Bud. He said that they found the house that our suspect changed Glenna's account from. They discovered that this couple's granddaughter, Jill McLaren, was using their computer. They couldn't find Jill, but apparently she just showed up at the station today. She said that "things had gone too far" and that she wants to tell the police everything." Megan's eyebrows went up.

"I hope this is the real deal."

[_Thanks for commenting, meterlovealltheway_. _I appreciate your suggestions. :) Thanks to the people that have read and not reviewed, too. ]_


	8. Spilled Beans

The dark tattoos all up and down Jill McLaren's arms rightly indicated her colorful personality. When she walked into the police station, she asked to see the "guys that are trying to find Glenna, 'cuz I might know where she is." After an officer asked her to hold one moment, she bristled.

"You don't believe me? You wanna bet? I could go right back there are drag her here by the hair if you want. But I'd have to murder a few people first. You want that? No? Okay, then lemme spill the beans to whoever's trying to find Glenna."

A few eyebrows went up, and several glanced were thrown in Jill's direction. The smell of alcohol was faintly on her breath. About five minutes went by before Bud and Sam reached the station, and Jill occupied herself d by pacing around, the station, sighing agitatedly and snapping her fingers loudly to the beat of some music that she must've been stuck in her head.

"Jill McLaren? I'm Bud Morris, and this is my partner, Detective Baker. We're working on Eli Forrester and Glenna's Foss's cases. If you could accompany me to the questioning room…"

"Interrogation chamber, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Been there a couple of times. Not for nothin' I did, but some stupid gang guy saw me with Jack and called me in to the cops. Drilled me, but I didn't tell them nothin'. Had nothin' to tell." Bud worked hard to keep himself from rolling his eyes in frustration.

"Okay, please, just come with us." Jill grudgingly followed the detectives to the interrogation room, and flopped down in the chair. She pushed it away from the table and swung her legs up onto the table top. Bud sat across from her, and Sam leaned on the side of the table. Bud motioned toward Jill with his hands.

"So, you have something you want to say to us?" Jill shrugged.

"Yeah. Okay, so I've done stupid things in the past. I guess I sorta wanna come clean. Especially since Gramma and Grampa turned you on to me. I messed with Glenna's pics. But I didn't want Jack to get Eric, y'know, since he's a good guy. He just needs to learn his boundaries. Messing in a gang feud ain't no party, for sure."

Sam's eyes narrowed.

"Wait a minute, who is Jack?"

"Jack LaGuardia. He's the one that got me into this mess. But you don't need to hear all about me. Just ask him when you bring him in." Jill laughed scornfully.

"A dirty rat if ever there was one. So he wanted Glenna for himself, I guess she was kind of a high-school crush, y'know? So when he found out that she was gonna marry Eli, and that she was coming to town, there was his chance to nail him! So he did, but he's a big thinker, is Jack. So he planned everything. Wanted me to pretend to be Glenna, call the tow truck guys, have them come out… but y'know, they were into this thing too. Jack thought maybe they could clean that bit up pretty well." Bud leaned back in his chair.

"You mentioned a gang feud. Who leads these gangs? Where are they located, and what do they do? Why are they fighting? Who are the gang members? Where is Glenna right now?" Jill put up her hands defensively.

"Hold your horses, I'm getting there, okay? If you just wanna cuff me now, then get it over with." Bud and Sam exchanged a quick glance. Then Sam spoke up.

"We're not going to arrest anyone until you tell us everything that you know. Start with this. Where is Glenna right now?" Jill shrugged.

"Probably where I left her. But maybe not. Jack might've taken her someplace else. Who knows. He's gone nuts."

"Okay, since you couldn't give a straight answer, how about this one: Who are the leaders in these gangs, and where can we find them?"

"Jack leads me and our gang… and Freddy leads the other gang. Frederick Haskell. You know him, right? Jack's kicking him outta town. At least he's trying to. Two gangs running drugs don't get along that well in the same town. Us undergrounders know how to hide the goods. Anyway, that's why we nabbed Glenna, 'cause Freddy's liked her since high school… made her a good bargaining chip. Get out of town, or I kill your girlfriends. Oh, high school… it makes you or breaks you, eh. Broke Jack, broke Freddy too, I guess. Now both of 'em hate each other's guts. Of course, Jackie's uncle runs the car place. It was perfect, having Glenna and Eli come in, rent a car… easy to figure out where they'd be. Funny, there's a lot that you'll tell to a perfect stranger."

Megan had come in to observe the interview shortly after Jill had been escorted to the interrogation room. She listened and watched grimly. There was no shade of sympathy or regret in Jill's tone. She was matter-of-fact as she described her involvement in the crime and kidnapping. It was all part of her life of crime. Megan wondered what led her to take that road in her life. Was it Jack's influence? Was it something tragic that happened in her life that made her an enemy of everything that was good?

Bud looked sternly at Jill McLaren.

"You need to tell us where Glenna Foss is. Now." Jill rolled her eyes and threw her head back.

"I don't know! But you could check out Jack's digs out back of the old shoe factory, by crescent Ave. Might find him there, might find him gone. He catches on quick. He was on his way to nailing Eric when you dragged him in and got him to spill the beans." Bud nodded.

"Okay. I'll buy your story. You know that by your own admission you were an accomplice Jack LaGuardia in the killing of Eli Forrester. Until we get further proof we'll need to keep you in holding. Maybe by then you'll be completely sober."

A couple of officers removed Jill to a temporary holding cell. Bud nodded to Sam.

"We have to check out that shoe factory. She could've been telling lies but we can't take that chance. I'll get some guys to go with us. We need to be ready for anything." Sam nodded. She'd been involved with more than one bunch of gang bangers, and she knew that the more prepared you were, the better things went. Gang feuds were often accompanied by extreme violence. But this was a particularly delicate situation, since Glenna was still, according for Jill's story, Jack LaGuardia's hostage.

Megan was about to head back to the ME's office when her phone rang. It was Kate.

"Hey Kate."

"So Eli Forrester's uncle just arrived here… he wants to see the body." Megan sighed. _Why now?_

"Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes… I just got done at the station. Oh, and Kate, the cops might find the killer today."

"That's… good. Oh, I have another call coming in. Talk to you later."

Megan was glad that the killer might finally be caught. But she was even gladder that Glenna Foss might be found and returned to her parents. Hopefully before it was too late.

_[Hey, readers. Since there hasn't been much interest in this story lately, I'm not going to write another chapter until I get 26 reviews. Thank you all for your input so far! I promise that I'll try to wrap up loose ends and plot arcs. I'm still becoming more proficient in my writing skills in general, so please bear with me. Action is definitely on its way, though! :)]_


	9. A Threat and a Bullet

After she finished speaking with Megan, Kate picked up the other call that was coming through. She was surprised to see that it was Lacey.

"Hi Lacey, what can I do for you?"

"Hi Dr. Murphy... uh… I know that you aren't dating my dad anymore, but… could I still talk to you about something? I know you're really busy and everything…" Kate smiled. She had never said it to Megan, but she had genuinely enjoyed the time that she had with Todd Fleming and Lacey, back when she was dating Todd. Day trips, shopping, just hanging out… it was the closest thing to a family of her own that Kate had been able to enjoy for the last several years. Many times she wished that she could have a daughter just like Lacey. Oh, how she wished that she could've found the right man, settled down, had kids… but that dream was impossible at this point in her life. Her career was her priority. But she had a big soft spot for Lacey, and she was glad that she still wanted her friendship.

"Sure, I'm not too busy right now. What's up?"

"Well… I went to my friend Ruby's house this week, and she told me that she hadn't seen her older sister in like six years. But the day before I went to visit, she'd gotten an email from her, and she said that she had made some bad friends in town, and that she couldn't come home because she was in trouble with the police. But she also told Ruby that if she told anybody about her that they would be in trouble with her friends." Kate frowned.

"Lacey, whenever someone threatens you, you need to tell the police right away."

"I know. But even Ruby's parents don't know, and Ruby was afraid that if she told her parents that her sister would get in trouble. So she told me… and now I don't know what to do. I wanted to ask you first, since I know Mom would completely freak out…" Kate's voice grew stern.

"And for good reason. Ruby should've told her parents right away, and you should have, too." Then her voice softened.

"I'll try to help you and Ruby as best I can. What's your friend's sisters' name?"

"Jill McLaren." Kate took a piece of paper and pen and jotted down the name, repeating it aloud as she did.

"Jill McLaren… okay, I'll let the police know. You need to have Ruby tell her parents about this, okay? I don't want to scare you, but it sounds to me that her sister may be involved in a gang. If that's the case, then you really can't be too cautious."

"Yeah, I thought that maybe it was a gang or something. Thanks, Kate. Oh, did the police find the guy that hacked into Glenna Foss's account yet?"

"I think they have. Your mom is down at the station now. Speaking of your mom, you need to tell her about Jill's threat to Ruby, and sooner than later." Kate heard Lacey sigh.

"Yeah… but she'll probably kill me. My mom, I mean, not Jill. Oh, never mind. Thanks, Dr. Murphy."

"You're welcome. And you can call me Kate."

"Okay, thanks Kate!"

"Yep, bye, Lacey."

"Bye."

Kate looked thoughtfully at the piece of paper with Jill McLaren's name on it. Then she headed into the room where Eli Forrester's uncle was waiting. On her way there she met Megan.

"Can I talk with you in your office real quick?" asked Megan, with a bright smile that Kate knew was a completely fake one. She rolled her eyes and turned around, heading back into her office.

"What is it, Megan?"

"Why didn't I know that Eli Forrester's uncle was coming? The body's not ready to be released yet; they're still running some tests at the lab..." Kate put up her hand defensively.

"It was a total surprise, believe me. Tell him what you just me, and tell him to come back another time." Megan sighed.

"Okay, I'll do that." Her eyes fell upon the piece of paper Kate's desk.

"Jill McLaren? She's the one that got into Glenna's Social Crewz account. I just came back from hearing her interrogation. Did you know that she's the one that called the tow truck pretending to be Glenna Foss? Bud and Sam are heading off to where they think the killer might be hiding Glenna." Kate raised her eyebrows.

"Really? I hope they catch him, and find Ms. Foss, too. Now why don't you go talk to Mr. Browning?" Megan's phone rang. It was Lacey.

"Oh, it's Lacey. Hey Lace, can I call you back in like ten minutes? Sorry, I just have to talk to Eli's uncle… I promise I'll be quick, okay? Bye." Megan sighed again and headed out to the waiting room.

"I hope this guy really _is_ his uncle."

Bud, Sam and their team of officers parked on the edge of the road by the old shoe factory. Behind the abandoned building was the equally abandoned property, which was mostly woods, that was owned by the town. Nobody usually paid attention to the old factory or the land. It hadn't been in use for at least fourteen years. Much of the old building had fallen down, but one part that remained was the garage, which opened from the front and the back. Weeds grew through the cracks in the parking lot that surrounded the dilapidated structure.

The police force spread out and slowly began canvassing the area, pistols at the ready. A few cops examined the old factory building itself, peering in through the broken windows at the large garage.

"There's a car in here," called one of the officers. He and some of the other men found a way through the garage to examine the car.

Bud, Sam and six other officers and detectives continued past the old building and into the woods, keeping alert for any signs of activity. Jill McLaren had said that Jack LaGuardia may have been keeping Glenna Foss captive there, and it was very possible that the gang leader's headquarters was there, also.

The woods were unnaturally quiet. No bird sounds, no small creatures scurrying here and there. Bud pointed out a house just up ahead, in a small clearing.

"That might be Jack LaGuardia's place up there," he said, glancing over at Sam, who was close beside him.

"Yeah. It's awfully quiet, though… I wonder if they're expecting us." Bud nodded grimly. That was quite possible.

The cops approached the house cautiously. Bud, flanked by Sam and two more officers climbed the short, concrete staircase to what resembled a front porch. He knocked on the door sharply.

"Philly PD, we're looking for Jack LaGuardia. We know that you are responsible for kidnapping Glenna Foss and murdering Eli Forrester. Open up."

At that moment the door flew open and a large, heavy man swung his fist furiously at Bud's face. But he was prepared, and blocked the strike. He then debilitated the man by twisting his arms behind his back and shoving him against the outside wall. Meanwhile, the officers that had been examining the car had raced up to the house to help deal with the gang members that were attempting to escape the police. Some of them had guns, but when they were ordered to put down their weapons, they acquiesced.

"Which one of you is Jack LaGuardia?" demanded Bud. His questioned was answered as a tanned, dark-haired figure burst out of the back door of the house and started racing toward back toward the old shoe factory. Sam immediately ran after him, and two cops followed closely on her heels.

The pursuee glanced over his shoulder once or twice as he ran. Then he reached toward his side pocket, and quick as lightening, he whipped out a pistol and fired three shots behind him, without even looking. He kept racing madly toward the old garage, pulling out a set of car keys from his left pocket.

Bud turned when he heard the sound of gunshots, and was filled with trepidation when he saw Sam fall to the ground, hard. His heart skipped and beat, and he pocketed his pistol and bolted down the porch steps toward her.

Meanwhile, the runaway suspect had been caught by the two other officers, and they had him cuffed and secured. The rest of the gang members were being guarded by some of the rest of the cops in and around the house while some of the other officers searched the place for Glenna Foss.

"Sam, are you okay? Talk to me."

Sam had pushed herself up into a sitting position and was clutching the side of her right calf with both hands, her face rigid with pain. She nodded in response to Bud's anxious inquiry.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. The bullet just…" she winced as she rolled up her pant leg, which was already stained with blood.

"…went right through. And he wasn't even looking." Sam gave a strained smile. Bud already had 911 dialed, and he called for one of the officers to grab the first aid kit from one of the police cars. He was relieved that Sam was okay; it could've been a lot worse.

A few minutes later, the ambulance was on its way, and Sam's leg had been temporarily bandaged to stop severe blood loss. She lay stretched out on the ground, doing her best to relax despite the pain.

"Are you going to be okay there? We can move you somewhere else more comfortable…" Bud began. Sam cut him off.

"I'll survive, okay?"

Bud nodded, only half convinced. Concern for his friend's well-being still lingered on his face.

"Okay. The ambulance should be here soon. Guess I have to go deal with our trigger-happy kidnapper friend, don't I?" Bud's expression changed into a scowl and he headed toward the belligerent Jack LaGuardia, who stood cuffed between two cops. Before he'd gone far, Sam called after him.

"Hey Bud."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful with this guy, okay? Remember we still have to find Glenna." Bud paused, and nodded.

"I'll try." Sam nodded back. Both she and Bud knew that he had a tendency to lose his temper easily, especially when dealing with suspects that had committed some crime that struck a chord with him in the bad kind of way. Once, in a fit of anger, he'd nearly killed a man suspected of kidnapping a young boy. He never wanted to relive the experience. The detective was angry that Jack had had the audacity to shoot his partner, but he knew that keeping calm and collected was vitally important, especially since he needed the suspect's cooperation.

Sam's ears caught the distant sound of an ambulance siren growing closer and closer. The burning pain in her leg was not diminishing in the slightest.

_Props to whoever invented morphine,_ she thought to herself, breathing in sharply as her leg twitched involuntarily. Her next thought was of Glenna Foss.

_Since she's not here… where the heck is she?_

_[Scrap waiting for more reviews! I just can't stay away from this story. :P Anything could happen now… *dunnnn da-dun-dun*… :) Thanks for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it.]_


	10. Flames

At the ME's office, Ethan was frantically pulling papers out of a file box in the records room.

"A… Ackland…. Atwood…. Amos…" He paused and looked at the files that were strewn all over the desk.

"It _must_ be here somewhere…" Just then Dani sidled into the room.

"Whatdya looking for, doc?" she inquired, leaning on the desk and looking over Ethan's shoulder as he thumbed through more files.

"Oh, hey there Dani. I'm actually…" as he spoke, he triumphantly produced the desired folder and did a 180 in the office chair with the exclamation

"Archer! Yeah!"

Dani looked puzzled.

"Does this have to do with some dead body? Archer sorta sounds like some secret agent's last name." She smiled mischievously.

"No, actually… uh, Jessica Archer was brought here last year, and she has a twin sister with the same genetic heart condition that killed her sister. So I just wanted to do some, uh, follow up, y'know, to make sure she..."

"Make sure she isn't dead? Oh sure, I understand totally, doc." Dani mischievous grin remained in place, and she whacked Ethan on the shoulder playfully. At that moment Curtis walked into the room, hands on hips.

"And what do you think you're doin' in here? Get yo'self out there right now, this ME's office don't have time for slackers. And if I catch you in here one more time, just one more…" Curtis shook his finger at Dani. She stood up and quickly headed to the door.

"Sorry Dr. Brumfield, I guess my curiosity got the better of me, it won't happen again, honest." Just before she walked out, she called back to Ethan,

"Good luck with your follow up, doc."

Curtis raised his eyebrows.

"Follow-up? Since when did we do follow-up on cadavers? Or is this maybe somethin' I don't want to know about? And you'd better clean up all these here papers, this records room was a mess to begin with anyways, no thanks to you."

Ethan held up his hands defensively.

"I'll put them all back, I promise. I was just looking for some information about a… uh… relative of one of the cadavers that we had last year. I know that sounds weird, but…" Curtis nodded emphatically.

"Mmmhmmm, you have no idea." Ethan continued, looking slightly flushed.

"You remember Karen Archer, right?"

"Mmmhmmm. She thought you were 'cute 'n bossy'. Is that what this is about?"

Ethan shrugged, and nodded, looking embarrassed.

"Uh, yeah. Actually. I wanted to find her birthday, and since Jessica Archer was her twin sister, I could just find her birthday, and then…" Curtis interrupted.

"I don't know what is wrong with you, boy. Why didn't ya just call the girl and ask her for her birthdate?"

"Well, I wanted to call her on her birthday, and I wanted it to be a surprise…"

"Did you ever hear of the internet? White pages? You kin find anybody on there now. What am I talkin' to you for, anyway? Just call her! It's been way longer than two months." Curtis gave Ethan an accusing look. Ethan smiled eagerly.

"You mean, you think I should call her? Like now?"

"No, not "like now". Later, when you're done cleaning up these papers."

"Yeah, okay, I'm on it."

Curtis threw his hands up into the air as he walked toward the door.

"What am I gonna do with that boy?"

Megan heard Curtis's voice coming from the records room. She needed to talk with him, so she headed over, but she stopped before she reached the doorway when she heard their conversation. When they were finished, she smiled.

_Good news for Peter. _

"Curtis, I just got a call from Bud. They've arrested Jack LaGuardia and most of his gang, but they didn't find Glenna. They didn't get much information from him, but Jill McLaren said she might know where she is. Sam got shot in the leg and is at the hospital now, and Bud wants Peter to go with him to find Glenna."

Curtis looked concerned.

"Shot in the leg? Nothin' too serious, I hope?"

"Bud said she'll be okay, just not able to walk for a while. And you know Sam; she'll probably be stir crazy by tomorrow. So anyway, they got Eli Forrester's killer. Just thought you might be interested."

Curtis nodded.

"Yeah, that's real good. Now you can get Eli Forrester's cadaver off the table and get a new one on, Kate already got one for you." Megan sighed and nodded. She didn't feel like the case of Eli Forrester was

completely out of her hands. And she wouldn't let it go until Glenna Foss was found.

25 Langdon Avenue. On that street, in a brown, ranch-style house, with brown shutters and small windows, on a yellow couch in the basement, sat Glenna Foss. Her face and arms were marked with bruises and scrapes, and her complexion was pale and drawn. Slouched on her left side, gun in hand, was Frederick Haskell. He looked completely miserable as he passed his gun from hand to hand. He was thinking about how he got himself into this mess of a lifestyle… crime, drugs, gangs. Estrangement from his real friends, and now kidnapping his old girlfriend. And everything being in secret. That was always one of his strengths; being able to keep secrets, to hide anything and everything that he did from everyone else. But he _hated_ it. All he could do now was protect Glenna from that monster of a man Jack LaGuardia and his gang. Fred's gang members had been watching him closely lately. Maybe they thought their boss was becoming soft. Or maybe he had never been hard to begin with… just easy enough to get along with. He was a good boss, and they respected him for his brilliant ideas. His latest one was to get Glenna away from Jack LaGuardia so that he would no longer have his bargaining chip.

Fred had been informed that Jack and his gang had been caught by the police. They were looking for Glenna, he knew. Now what would he do?

_Jill probably tipped them off… she'll send them my way, too. Not much I can do... I'll turn myself in. At least then I'll just get prison time… unless my gang turns on me first. Or if Jack's lose canon doesn't get me before that… _

Jack LaGuardia's 'lose canon' sat in a backroom at the car rental shop, the same place where Glenna and Eli had rented their car upon arrival in Philly.

Bill Travino, or Billy-T, as he was called by his criminal friends, was plotting with himself how he was going to get Jack LaGuardia free. And how to get Glenna Foss back. How to get Freddy Haskell and his gang out of town. And how to put a cork in Jill McLaren's squealing. He was good at killing many birds with the same stone; it was one of his favorite ways of doing crime.

_I can pull this off not trouble... just have to get the right cards, and bam! This whole game is mine. _

He paused from his wily scheming and pulled out his cell-phone.

_Just hold on, Jackie boy. Your uncle Billy's gonna bail you out again… and this time _he's_ in charge of everything._

"Hello, is this the Philadelphia middle school? Great. What time does school finish tomorrow? I'll need to pick up my niece…"

[_Thanks for reading! I always appreciate your guys's reviews (there's some bad English for ya! :). I'm reaaaaallllyyyy sad to hear that we'll be losing 3 of BOP's finest next year! Oh well… more reason to write fanfiction about Bud, Sam and Peter, right?]_


	11. The Kidnapping

[_Well, I didn't expect to get to 30 reviews so fast! For reasons involving time and summer busyness I'm going to have to postpone an update until 35 reviews. Thanks a bunch, you guys!]__  
_

"You have reached the Costa household. We're not available now, so please leave a message. Thank you!"

"David Costa… I know you're there. You know who I am. I'm coming…"

Bill Travino hung up after leaving his brief message. He thought that his plan to free his nephew Jack was foolproof.

_After all,_ he thought, _all I need to do to get Jill to keep quiet is to use some leverage. After I threaten her little sister, I'll get her dad to do anything I need… that brother-in-law of mine was always a coward, anyway. Couldn't stand up for himself for anything. Once I've got him working for me, we can nab that medical examiner's daughter straight outta the school… of course, she'll just think she's going for a visit to her precious friend Ruby's house, right? The kid jumps in the car, and then we get straight back here. I call Hunt, she gets her friends the cops to let Jack out, and then he's free. Dave Costa brings the kid back, and everything's good. That'll take care of Jill- nah, may as well just call her Silvia. Don't know why she chose 'Jill McLaren' as her fake name anyways. _

Travino punched in another number on his phone.

"Hey Rick, I need some help from you and the boys in case my plan goes sour…"

"Please be careful, Peter." Megan's eyes met Peter's, and her concerned expression lingered for an extra second.

"Thanks, I'll try to behave myself," he replied, with a wry smile.

"Oh, by the way, I don't think you'll have to worry about Ethan anymore. He's doing some… follow-up with Karen Archer. I guess you and Dani are good to go. If you don't mind me getting a little involved…" Peter chuckled.

"No, I don't mind at all. Even if I did, you're kind of irresistible." Megan flushed a little and looked away. Peter sighed, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered.

"Hey Bud, yeah, I'm coming. I'll ride with you… okay. I'll be down in five minutes." He hung up and pocketed his phone.

"I guess Bud wants me over there now. Don't worry, Megan; we have plenty of backup." Megan looked anxious.

"I know, but so did Bud and Sam last time, and look what happened to Sam. It could've been a lot worse." Peter nodded.

"Yeah, it could've been. But I know that Sam would tell you it's all in the line of duty. Look, I haven't even gone yet, so save your worrying until something _does_ happen, okay?" Megan looked down at the floor, her cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment.

"I know. I guess my maternal instincts are finally appearing," she said, smiling. "Oh, speaking of, Lacey's calling. Good luck, Peter." Peter smiled appreciatively and then strode quickly out of the room.

"Hey Lace, what's up?"

"Hey Mom, there's something I need to tell you…"

Lacey explained Jill McLaren's threat to Ruby. Megan was shocked, especially when she learned that Jill McLaren was Ruby's sister. She explained how she had turned herself in and told the police where Glenna might have been the first time, and also the second time.

"Lacey, why didn't you tell me this right away? Ruby's in danger, did she tell her parents?... oh, so _she_ didn't either? This is serious stuff; if Jill finds out that Ruby told you, then you'll be in as much danger as Ruby… okay, listen, Lace. I'm going down to the station- oh shoot, Peter and Bud just left to search for Glenna Foss. Okay, I know what I'll do. I'll see if I can talk to Jill McLaren myself."

"I'm really sorry, Mom, I was just afraid of what you would think… besides, Jill can't hurt Ruby since she's in jail, right?"

"Lacey, whenever you or one of your friends is threatened, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, you need to tell the police right away. And when you get involved in gang activities there's always more than one person involved."

"So should I tell my teacher?"

"Yes! I mean no… oh, I don't know, Lace…" The uncertainty and alarm in her mother's voice made Lacey afraid. Her mom _always_ knew what to do. But not this time.

"Listen, I'm _really_, really sorry if I scared you, Lace. Just have a good day at school and enjoy your friends, okay? I'll pick you up right after school."

"Actually, Ruby's dad called me and said he would pick us both up after school. Ruby wants me to come over. She didn't come into school today because she woke up with a headache, but she feels better, and she said she has an art project to show me, and I was going to show her mine. They're both due tomorrow." Megan sighed. She took a breath and tried to reason with herself.

_I'm overreacting, the police have this under control, Lacey's not in danger, I'll call the police and tell them everything… I mean, they probably already know… Ruby probably told her parents, and they probably called the police… _Even though she had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing, Megan decided to let Lacey go.

"Okay, Lace. Go ahead. But if anything weird happens, call me, okay?"

"Sure Mom. And… thanks for not being mad at me."

"Of course not! I love you, and don't forget that, okay? See you later."

"Bye Mom."

Bill Travino had secured Dave Costa's complete cooperation. Between the point of a gun and threats to his daughter Ruby, he made sure that Mr. Costa fully complied with his every demand, and he made him understand that if he tried to call the police, that he, or one of his men, would mistreat Ruby. That was the only incentive Dave Costa needed to go along with Travino's plan to kidnap Lacey.

"Billy-T" knew that this was a risky endeavor. But he felt confident once he was in the passenger seat of the Costa's mini-van on their way to the school the day after he showed up on their doorstep. Ruby had stayed home under the pretense of having a headache, and she and her mother were guarded carefully by some of the men under the service of Travino's friend Rick. The plan was to pick up Lacey at the school and take her to the rental shop, which was closed for business for the week.

Lacey was slightly suspicious when she saw the stranger in the passenger seat. But she was reassured by Mr. Costa, who tried to act completely normal, and introduced Mr. Travino as Ruby's uncle. It was not until Mr. Costa drove onto some unfamiliar roads that started to get a little anxious.

"Mr. Costa… this isn't the way to your house, or at least we've never gone here before." Bill Travino looked into the back seat, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.

"It sure isn't, sweetheart. Hand me your cell-phone. Now." His tone of voice convinced Lacey that he didn't want to mess around. She quickly gave him her phone.

"So now, as long as you do everything I tell you to do, you won't get hurt. Actually, I can't promise that, since what happens to you depends on what your Mom and the cops do. You see, I see to get my nephew out of prison, and I'm keeping you until they let him go." Lacey's eyes were wide with fright.

"But… what does that have to do with me?"

"Oh, nothing much… just that your Mom happens to work closely with the police all the time, and they're the guys that have my nephew, blah, blah, blah… oh come on, girl, don't be stupid!" Lacey swallowed nervously. She was scared.

"Lacey, I'm really sorry… but I have to do this or he'll hurt Ruby and my wife. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Dave Costa's remorseful-sounding voice sounded far away to Lacey. All of this was almost too much for her to handle.

_How could they lie to me? I wish Mom was here! What if the police don't release his nephew? What will happen to me? _

Lacey quivered with fear, but remained silent. A tear rolled down her cheek.

_Mom will do something… she always knows what to do… everything will be okay… _

[_I'll update once I get 30 reviews. (See the note at the top of the chapter) Thanks for sticking with this story, reviewers! I really do appreciate your comments. :)_]


	12. Found

"Okay guys, this is it. Surround the house, and keep your eyes open for anyone making a break for it. I'm going to the front door. You know what to do once I'm in. Out." Bud checked his pistol and took a deep breath.

"Ready Peter?"

"Yep."

The pair got out of the car and headed to the front door, pistols at the ready. The team of cops that they had come with was already surrounding Frederick Haskell's house, tensely waiting for the gang members to stir. The road was blocked off, and precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of those in the houses close by. Bud walked up onto the front porch, and his thoughts flashed back to his encounter with Jack LaGuardia's gang just the day before.

_I doubt that these guys will give in so easily, _he thought to himself as he banged on the door.

"Philly PD, open up. We have a warrant to search this house." No one came to the door. Peter stood back as Bud kicked it open. Then all of a sudden the sound of gunshots filled the air.

About seven officers rushed into the house and began to search. Peter ran in also and tackled a thin, dark-skinned gang member that was wildly shooting a pistol. He was able to wrestle the gun from his hands but the man retaliated by giving him a double blow to the face with his clenched fists. Peter winced, but immediately recovered and tackled the man, pinning him to the ground. Another cop rushed to his aid and put handcuffs around the man's wrists. Wiping blood from his mouth and blinking his bruised right eye gingerly, Peter looked up and saw Bud struggling with a Caucasian man about the same size as himself. They seemed to be equally matched in their skill at martial arts maneuvers until the gang member seized an opportunity to smash Bud's hand through the front window in an attempt to take his gun. Blood dripped from the detective's fist as he tried to defend himself using his one good hand. Peter flung himself onto the attacker and took him down the ground, struggling to maintain control as the man writhed and screamed,

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

The other cops also had difficulty in securing the rest of the gang as some open fired with handguns and others tried to get to their parked vehicle in an attempt to escape. Several officers had searched the basement and found Glenna Foss tied up and unconscious, but alive. Frederick Haskell had hidden himself in a concealed room that he had built down there. It was so cleverly designed that it escaped even the trained eyes of the cops.

As Fred sat cramped in his small, dark closet, his mind raced.

_What the heck am I doing? I can't run a gang… they hate me. I hate myself. Everyone's out to get me. I used to have friends… what happened to me? I'm a wannabe drug-lord… but I don't want to be. I'm done for anyhow. _

Swallowing the lump that rose in his throat, he turned the small doorknob and stepped out into the basement, where the cops were attending to Glenna as best as they could before the EMTs arrived. He put his hands on his head and walked slowly toward them.

"Take me… just take me, please! Take me to prison and kill me… I deserve it. I've ruined my life, Glenna's life… I tried to protect her, I did, really! I'll tell you everything…" Just then, one of the small windows on the outside wall near the ceiling shattered as a gloved first smashed through it. A pistol appeared in the window, and a harsh voice snarled,

"A lame coward to the end, eh, Freddy?"

Two shots were fired, and they both found their mark in Frederick Haskell's chest. He dropped to the floor, gave a couple of hoarse gasps, and then lay completely still. He was dead.

The man that shot and killed Frederick was caught before he could shoot anyone else, and the rest of the gang was secured too. The ambulance came and took Glenna to the hospital, and Peter and Bud had their injuries cared for. Peter's eye, nose and lip were swollen, and Bud's hand was cut in several places from the window glass. It really could have used some stitches right away, but he insisted on staying at the house until all of the gang members were in the police cars and on their way to the station for questioning. An officer informed him that Frederick Haskell had been shot, and he gave Peter the contents of the dead man's pockets. Peter took a look at his driver's license.

"Frederick Haskell… hard to believe that he was a gang leader. From what Mr. and Mrs. Foss told us he seemed to be a nice enough guy." Bud shrugged.

"Anybody can go wrong. Money and power are very powerful motivators." Peter nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah. I kinda feel bad for him, though."

The pair watched as Frederick's body was carried out on a stretcher, covered by a white sheet.

"Well, I guess I should get this taken care of right," said Bud, glancing at his bandaged hand.

"Maybe I can visit Sam while I'm at it." Peter nodded, and gingerly felt his swollen lip. Bud grinned.

"Looks like you were in a bar fight." Peter tried grimace, and then regretted it.

"It sure feels like it."

Peter volunteered to drive. They were both quiet as they headed back to the station.

_Megan's gonna scold me when I get back, _he thought to himself. Peter was secretly pleased that she was so concerned about him. He really didn't mind a little extra attention from her…

Bud was glad that Glenna was found, more or less all right. He had expected the worst. Now he could make the call that he had been looking forward to for three days to a worried Mr. and Mrs. Foss. He thought that the case was pretty much wrapped up; Jack LaGuardia, Eli Forrester's killer, was caught. Both drug-running gangs were found, and the police force and other investigators would take care of the rest of that business. Frederick Haskell was dead, so unfortunately he couldn't answer any of the many questions that remained. There was just one piece of the puzzle left that hadn't been accounted for.

_Why the tow truck? Why did Jill McLaren call a tow truck after Jack shot Eli?_

The answer to the detective's question, and the people involved in it now played a larger role in the drama of the case than he ever could have imagined…

[_Thanks for all the kind reviews, you guys! Next update will be after 48 reviews. More from the rest of the team will be coming up…]_


	13. What We Do for Love

Megan glanced up when she heard the 'ding' of the elevator, and rushed over to it when she saw Peter step out.

"Peter! Are you okay? Your face looks so awful! You know I told you to be careful…"

It hurt to smile, but he did anyway. He gently reassured her that he was all right, and tried to steer her in the direction of her office so they could talk in private. Some of the doctors, nurses and others that were passing through the area had stopped what they were doing to peer at him curiously and Peter felt extremely self-conscious.

"I'm fine, Megan. It looks a lot worse than it is."

"That's what _everyone_ says when they're hurt! Are you sure you're okay? What happened?" Peter chuckled, and it _really_ hurt his face this time, but he couldn't help laughing at Megan's half-scolding, half-anxious inquiries.

"Listen, I'm okay, really. I got in a fist-fight with one of Frederick Haskell's gang members, that's all. They gave us a run for our money, that's for sure." The pair heard a soft knock on the door, and Kate walked in a second later.

"Peter! Wow… what happened to you?" Peter looked down at the floor, smiling.

_How many times will I be explaining myself today?_

Then he became serious.

"Well, we checked out that house that Glenna Foss told us about- Frederick Haskell's house, not the one behind the shoe factory. His gang put up quite a fight, but we were able to sort them out. Turns out that Haskell had been keeping Glenna there for the last day or so. One of the gang said that Jack LaGuardia had been using Glenna as bargaining chip to force Frederick and his gang to disband, or move out of town."

"That confirms Jill McLaren's story," murmured Megan.

"Yeah. So anyway, Haskell apparently is an old flame or Glenna's, and he didn't want to see her hurt. Apparently he didn't know anything about Eli Forrester's death, but he did find out that Jack kidnapped Glenna. He had some of his guys go in and nab Glenna from Jack's hideout when he wasn't around. The guy said that Haskell wanted to return her to her parents, but he wasn't sure how to get her back without ruining him and his drug-trading career. But she's safe now, thank goodness."

"Okay, I think I'm beginning to understand…" The truth was beginning to dawn on Megan. The various pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

"So, if Jack was telling the truth to the officers that questioned him, he heard about Jack and Glenna's visit with Frederick Haskell at LaMonta's, and because he was jealous of both Eli and Frederick, he slipped poison into Eli's drink. Then the poison took effect, killing Eli. But just to make sure that he was dead, Jack followed Eli and Glenna, and had Jill- I mean, Silvia, shoot at the car…" Kate interrupted her inquisitively.

"Wait a minute; Jill's _real_ name is Silvia?"

"Yeah… it's kind of a long story. Her full name is really Silvia Costa. She's Lacey's friend Ruby's older sister, and apparently she went through a rebellious streak about eight years ago and left home. Sometime during the last two weeks she called Ruby and told her that she'd been involved in gang activity, and that if she told anyone she'd get in trouble with her "friends". Ruby told Lacey about it, and Lacey, just today, told me. So I went and talked to Silvia, and got her side of the story."

"Now why didn't she tell us all of this before now? I mean, about Jack poisoning Eli and all of that?" Peter wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe because part of her is still loyal to Jack… I mean, she's looked up to him for the last eight years. I guess it wasn't until she realized how evil Jack could be that she wanted to leave him." Peter looked thoughtful.

"And for all his trouble, Frederick Haskell was shot by one of his own guys. I guess most of them thought he was a coward for not being as aggressive as Jack." Megan looked surprised.

"Really? Huh, from Bud and Sam's account of what Mr. and Mrs. Foss said, he seemed to be a decent guy. I guess he hid his drug trading pretty well."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Megan, but Eli Forrester's uncle call again, and he wanted to know when he can see the body. So I had Ethan call him, and Mr. and Mrs. Foss back and tell them we'll release it tomorrow." Megan was about to protest, but then caught herself.

"Okay, whatever, that's fine. I guess I'm done with him anyway." Kate frowned slightly.

"You seem very hesitant to give him back. We know how he died, and killer is caught, isn't that enough for you?" Megan sighed, and looked pensively at the floor.

"I suppose… I'm just wondering about _him._ Supposedly this uncle of his was estranged from the family, and didn't even know he was given up for adoption after his biological parents did, et cetera. I guess I just wish I know more about him. But that's okay."

"Well, maybe you could talk to Glenna when she's feeling better," Peter suggested.

"Maybe I'll do that. Oh, speaking of feeling better, do you know how Sam's doing?" Peter shrugged.

"I guess she's doing fine. She called Bud just before we left this afternoon. Asked him if he could bring her coffee when he was done, and said that the hospital's was terrible." Kate and Megan both chuckled. It was no secret that Sam loved coffee.

"Oh yeah, speaking of Bud, he had to go get some stitches in his hand; it had a run-in with Frederick Haskell's front window. But he should be back soon."

"Good," Megan said. "I have a few questions for Jack, and Jill- I mean, Silvia. I wonder if she picked that name on purpose…"

The ringtone of Megan's phone interrupted her musings.

"Sorry, I should probably get this. Hey Lace, what's up?"

"Hi Mom…" Megan was taken aback by the uncharacteristic quaver in Lacey's voice.

"Lacey, are you okay? You sound kind of…" She was interrupted suddenly by an unfamiliar voice.

"Megan Hunt… are you alone? We need to talk." Megan's eyes grew wide in shock as she realized that Lacey wasn't at the Costa's house. Why was she with a strange man? _Without_ her permission? Silently, Megan motioned for Peter to close her office door. Putting a finger to her lips and nodding toward Peter and Kate, she put her phone on speaker.

"Yes… I'm alone. What do you want? What have you done to my daughter?"

"I want you to get Jack LaGuardia out of jail in exchange for your daughter's life." Cold terror stabbed Megan in the heart; her own precious daughter, being held as ransom for a murderer, by a lunatic? This couldn't possibly be happening. Not to her. Not now.

Peter and Kate immediately realized the gravity of the situation, and Peter slowly headed toward the door with a grim expression on his face, intending to call the police ASAP.

"Don't you _dare_ touch my daughter. Do you hear me? Leave her_ alone. _She has nothing to do with you, she's completely innocent... don't hurt her, please." Megan's voice turned from fierce to quivery. Even though she realized that it was most likely useless to beg for mercy from a madman, it was all that she could do at the moment.

"Oh, your daughter will be fine. I literally haven't laid a hand on her… have I, Lacey? Tell your mommy the truth, now, dearie."

"He's hasn't touched me or hurt me, Mom, it's true. But please, get me…" Lacey's pleading voice was cut off by Travino.

"Twenty-four hours. That's all the time you have to get Jack out of jail. And if you don't… then twenty-four hours is all the time your daughter has to live."

Megan swallowed hard. Her heart was racing, and a tear of distress rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away and took a deep breath, glancing up at Kate before she replied. Her boss's face expressed the anxiety that Megan felt.

"Okay. Yeah, I'll do it. I'll get Jack out. I am going to get my daughter back."

"Good. When you're ready… call me, maybe?" Megan shuddered at the obnoxious laughter coming from the other side of the phone line. Choking back more tears, she brought her phone closer to her face.

"LACEY! Everything will be okay! I'm coming for you! I love you, Lacey!"

Travino smiled in his malicious way as he hung up Lacey's phone abruptly, cutting off further communications.

"Now that your precious mommy knows that I have you, she'll do anything for me." Pacing across the room, "Billy-T" examined the captive Dave Costa, who was bound and gagged tightly.

"Interesting, the things that we do for love, isn't it?"

[_Thanks for much for all the reviews; you guys are great! You have no idea how each and every comment encourages me to keep writing. Thanks a ton! I hope you keep reading. :)]_


	14. A Helping Hand

After thanking the doctor that cleaned and stitched his hand, Bud made his way to the lobby. Sam had asked him if he could give her a ride home in addition to getting her a coffee, and he gladly consented to both. Her leg had been treated, and since the bullet wound had been fairly clean and straight-forward, she was able to go home right away, and walk with the aid of crutches. Bud pushed past a gurney and walked over to where Sam was seated with her crutches leaning against a low table covered in magazines.

"Morris taxi service, reporting for duty." Sam was studying a news article about a crime involving a gang and a drugstore robbery, and she didn't acknowledge Bud right away.

"Your coffee's in the car. Straight from the Village Coffee House. No cream, no sugar. Medium. Did I miss anything?" Sam folded the paper and glanced up, grinning.

"Nope. Thanks for getting it." She set the paper down on the low table in front of her and then reached for her crutches. They slipped, and tumbled down to the floor, out of reach. Bud stooped down, picked them up and handed them to her. Sam accepted them with a wry smile.

"Thanks… I guess I have to get used to these." Bud watched her with a rueful expression on his face. He hated to see his normally spry partner hobbling around on crutches like a cripple. Getting shot was rough; Bud knew that from experience.

Sam glanced over and noticed the bandage on his hand.

"Hey, what happened to you? Looks like you've had some adventures while I've been here." Bud nodded, smiling wryly.

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"Speaking of adventures, you'll never guess who I saw passing through here: Eric Simpson. Apparently Mrs. and Mrs. Foss called him right after they talked to you about Glenna. I guess they wanted him to tell her that Eli's funeral's gonna be on Friday." Bud shook his head sadly as he picked up Sam's bag of painkillers and other meds.

"That's got to be rough. A visit to her parents turned into a funeral for her boyfriend."

When they were both in the car on the way to Sam's apartment, Bud described what had happened in the last hour at Frederick Haskell's house. Just as he finished, his phone rang.

"So then Peter brought me here, and I guess he walked back to the office. Hah, he probably got a few stares along the way. Oh, hang on a sec…" The detective pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Morris. Hey Peter… can I put you on speaker? Great." Bud set his phone on the console so that Sam could also hear the conversation.

"Hey Sam, how's the leg?"

"Hey, Peter. It's still there in one piece, thankfully. Heard you got a few loaded punches today."

"Yeah, my eye's all kinds of colors now. But seriously now, some guy just called Megan. He's got Lacey, and he wants Jack LaGuardia to be released or he's threatened to kill her." The two detectives exchanged a dismayed glance.

_Just when I thought this was over… _Bud groaned inwardly.

"Oh great. Did you get a trace on the call?"

"Not yet, but he called from Lacey's phone. I called the FBI, and they've already started working on it." Bud nodded approvingly, and Sam sighed wearily.

_Megan's going to be out of her mind._

"Okay. I'll be back at the station as soon as possible. How's Megan?"

"Going out of her mind, as you might expect. Speaking of, I actually need to go. Bye guys."

"See ya."

Sam ended the call, and Bud blew out a frustrated sigh.

"You've got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed. "What is this guy playing at? What is so important about Jack that he thinks he needs to go kidnapping a teenage girl to get him out of jail?" Sam shrugged.

"Maybe he owes him money."

"Hmm. Could be. Nothing's ever simple, is it?" Sam shook her head, and looked out the window pensively.

"Nope. Seems like every time we turn a corner in this case somebody opens up a can of worms." Bud looked grim.

"Yeah… let's hope we can get them all back in the can, and soon."

Back at the ME's office, Megan hurried over to Peter with an agitated expression.

"Is there anything I can do besides wait here? There must be something… I can't just wait until that guy calls me up and tells me he's killed my daughter." Megan hated feeling helpless, especially when her daughter was in danger, but Peter's confidence made her feel calmer. During times like this, having him to lean on meant more to her than she ever expressed.

Megan suddenly grimaced and began massaging her hands. Peter knew right away that her parasthesia was acting up; it always did when she was stressed. Gently, he guided her to a chair and made her sit down. He then pulled up a chair and sat beside her, waiting until she was undistracted by her tingling hands to speak.

"Megan… you know that I'm doing all I can to make sure that Lacey is safely found. There's nothing that you can do right now except wait. You have to be strong right now, for Lacey's sake, okay?" Megan nodded and blinked away the tears that rose in her eyes. She then sighed, and got up from her chair resolutely.

"Thank you, Peter. And I mean it… I know that the FBI will find her. I'm sure of it. Until then…" Her voice grew shaky, and she once again blinked away tears and swallowed hard.

"Until then, I'll try to keep focused on what I _can_ do." She forced a smile, and then strode out of her office toward the lab.

Peter sighed and got up from his chair, watching Megan as she departed. He knew that it must have been incredibly hard for her to go about doing normal things with Lacey's safety on her mind. But Megan was strong, and that was one of the many things that he admired about her.

_But it sure isn't the only thing…_

[_Hey guys, sorry about the long delay with the update. I sorta got writer's block. Anyhow, hope you like this latest installment. Thanks for all the comments!]_


	15. Reunited

Lacey glanced wistfully at the solitary window, which was currently the only source of light for the dark room in which she sat. A few minutes earlier, Bill Travino had tossed a foil-wrapped chicken sandwich through the door at her, and it lay unopened at Lacey's feet. Even though her body was ready for food, she had no appetite. Sighing, she got up from her chair and went over to the small, rectangular window and stood on tiptoe to try and see out of it. But it was too high.

_Somebody's got to get me out of here soon… _She thought, a tear of frustration and anxiety rolling down her cheek.  
So far, Travino had treated her fairly well, giving her a water bottle and more recently, the sandwich. David Costa was being kept in another room, tied as well as handcuffed, and unable to help himself or Lacey. Lacey was afraid that Travino might get bored, and want something to do… And she knew that she was in a bad place. Lacey went over to the chair and dragged it over to the window. She was able to see out once she was up on it.

To her shock, the first person she saw was an FBI agent, helmeted and holding a pistol at the ready. She gasped, and quickly stepped down from the chair. A split second later, the room door burst open and another FBI agent stepped through. As soon as he saw Lacey he grabbed the radio from off his belt.

"I've found the girl. Alive, in the back room."

The agent slid his pistol into the holster and removed his helmet.

"Lacey Fleming? I'm investigator Cliff Jackson. Jack LaGuardia is under arrest, and you're safe now. You can come with me, and I'll take you to your mother."

Megan was overjoyed after receiving the call that her daughter had been found, alive and for the most part, unharmed. Lacey had been taken to the police station to await her mother's arrival. She had also agreed to answer some of the FBI's questions in order to aid in their investigations. The police had also taken David Costa into their custody, and he told them urgently about the situation at his house, where Travino's men were threatening his wife and daughter. The police immediately contacted the SWAT team and dispatched a unit to handle that.

Megan burst through the station door, and she and Lacey ran into each other's arms, hugging and crying at the same time.

"I thought I might never see you again," Lacey sobbed.

"Me too," Megan admitted, hugging her daughter tighter.

After several minutes of tearful joy and comforting words, Megan glanced up at one of the chief FBI officers, who nodded to her silently.

"Come on Lace… we're going home." Lacey nodded, and brushed away her tears.

"Mom… I love you. I don't ever want to argue with you again, ever! You're my hero." This statement cause a thrill in Megan's heart, and tears sprang to her eyes once again.

_I didn't think she would ever say that again… about me. _

"Lacey, I…. you're amazing. I'm so proud to be your mom."

[_Will update after 66 reviews. Thanks for being patient! My life's been busy lately.]_


	16. The Story Unfolded

Peter and Megan had arranged to speak with Glenna Foss, who was recovering in a local hospital from her recent traumatic experiences. Two days had passed since Lacey's rescue, and Megan was still coming back from the emotion drain that that had caused her.

Technically, her part of the investigation in the death of Eli Forrester was over. She'd already determined cause of death, and for the most part found out the motive of the killer. But there were still pieces missing from the puzzle that she really wanted to discover.

The police had already questioned Jack LaGuardia, Jill McLaren and Bill Travino, and had found out their side of the story. Travino's car rental business was shut down until further notice, and LaGuardia's house was thoroughly searched, producing several thousand dollars' worth of stolen and traded drugs. The older couple whose internet Jill McLaren had used to access Glenna's Socialcrewz account on had been like grandparents to her during the time in her life when she rebelled and separated herself from her real family. Jill made up a story about herself being an orphan and surviving on the streets, so they took care of her whenever she needed them.

The whole truth came out, and Mr. and Mrs. Costa were reunited with their long-lost daughter. Jill decided to drop her fake name, and asked for everyone involved to call her by her real name, Silvia.

LaGuardia was charged with the murder of Eli Forrester, along with other charges of illegal drug trading, and the court dates for him, Travino and Silvia Costa were to be determined. Travino was charged with kidnapping and extortion, among other things, and Silvia was charged with being murderer's accomplice and illegal drug dealing.

As she walked through the hospital door, many thoughts tumbled around in Megan's head.

_If Silvia was my daughter, I would be so devastated; I don't know if I could ever move on. I'm so glad that Lacey isn't like that. _

She also thought about Glenna Foss, whom she and Peter was about to talk with.

_She must be an incredibly strong young woman. First losing her fiancé, then being kidnapped and abused by two old friends…_

"Yeah, we're her to visit Glenna Foss? We're from the ME's office."

"She is in… room 212."

"Thanks."

Peter turned to Megan, who had stopped, lost in thought, by the hospital front desk.

"You okay? We can do this some other time if you want…"

"Sorry, yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking, that's all. Room 212, right?"

Once they reached Glenna's room, Peter rapped lightly on the door. A soft "Come in" was the reply.

The curtains were open, and room the bright and sunny. Mrs. Foss stood by the side of the bed, and Glenna raised herself a little higher up when she saw her two visitors.

"Hello Mrs. Foss," said Megan with a polite smile.

"Glenna? I'm Dr. Megan Hunt and this is Peter Dunlop. We've been investigating the cause and circumstances of your fiancé's death." Glenna nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you."

Megan looked at the floor for a second, and then went on.

"I… can't imagine how difficult this must have been for you, and I'm _very_ sorry for your loss. Thank you for agreeing to discuss the events of the last few days with us. We need to know the whole story so that we, and the police, can do what we can to make sure that justice is done."

Glenna nodded again, and tears sprang to her eyes.

"Yeah, it's been awful. Uh… I guess I'll start from the beginning." Peter got out a notebook and pen so he could take notes on Glenna's story. Bud would've liked to be there also, but he had to take Jeannie to a doctor's appointment and wasn't able to make it to the interview. Sam wanted to come too, but Bud had convinced her to stay home and rest her injured leg.

"So," Glenna began, "Eli proposed to me about two weeks ago. And of course I said yes. I wanted him to meet Mom and Dad, so we decided to fly out here for part of our vacation time. I wrote about it on my Socialcrewz page and Fred Haskell, who I knew from high school, saw it. He wanted to meet up with Eli and I, so we arranged it. We me up at LaMonta's diner, and we had a good visit. Fred didn't tell me about any of the gang and drug stuff he'd gotten involved with, so we had no idea. After we chatted for a while, we went our separate ways. Eli and I headed back for Mom and Dad's house…"

After hearing Glenna's story and having some of her own questions answered, Megan thanked her, and she and Peter left to go to the police station. The pair mulled over what they had just been told.

"So," Peter mused, "Eric Simpson found out that they would be meeting with Fred Haskell, and he knew that something was up."

"Yeah, so he followed them, and when Bill Travino saw him in the plane photo at the car rental place, _he_ knew that _Eric_ knew that something was up."

Peter blew out a breath.

"Yeah. So then he told Jack, his nephew, and he figured kidnapping and threatening Glenna would be a great way to end the feud between his gang and Fred's gang."

Megan nodded.

"And Jill- I mean, Silvia, had been involved with Jack's gang for a couple years. Jack called her after he saw Eli and Glenna together, and had her do the actual shooting while he followed them home in the car."

Peter frowned.

"But where was Eric Simpson all this time?" Megan shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess he wanted to stay under the radar. I guess we'll never really know until we talk with him, too."

The next day, Bud visited the ME's office and talked with the gang about the last few lose ends of the case.

"So I had a chat with Eric Simpson, and he said that after he got off the plane, he followed Glenna and Eli. Apparently, Silvia gave him some kind of warning to stay away from Glenna and Eli while they were visiting or he would get into serious trouble with the gang boys. So he did. I guess after that visit to LaMonta's he lost track of them."

"Well," said Megan thoughtfully, "At least he tried. It's a dangerous thing, to get caught up with a fight between gangs, especially when there are games of power and love involved."

_[Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope I didn't confuse anybody too bad with the plot! It's hard for me to keep continuity 100% straight. Anyways, the next chapter will probably be the last one. This chapter is pretty much wrapping up loose ends with the Eli/Glenna plot in particular, but don't worry! The gang will feature in the next chapter.] _


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